Missions - Ken & Sharon Crider, with Michaela & Troy

Ken was the youngest of four children. He was raised in southern Iowa in the small town of Humeston. His parents were saved, but undiscipled, and it was not until his teenage years that he met his Savior. His best friend led him to Christ during a track practice. Ken went on to attend ISU, where a friend introduced him to Campus Baptist Church. Under their tutelage, Ken grew in his faith and rededicated his life to the Lord. During that time, he also decided the Lord was calling him to full-time Christian service and having met Sharon, he headed off to Faith Baptist Bible College two days after getting married. He completed a four year Bible degree, serving as a youth pastor during that time. After college, God directed Ken to work in a secular environment, although he continued to serve actively in the church as Sunday School teacher, deacon and pulpit supply until the call to missions.

Sharon was the oldest of six children. At the age of one, she headed to the field of Ghana, West Africa, with her parents where they served for a term and a half. Sharon met Christ during their first furlough back when her parents were reporting to her mother’s home church in Unionville. When her parents felt the call to return to the States for home missions, they moved the family to Dubuque, Iowa. From there, Sharon went on to attend Faith Baptist Bible College. She attended Campus Baptist Church in Ames, Iowa, during that time as well and met Ken Crider. Once they were married, she ceased her enrollment at Faith Baptist Bible College, to support Ken’s education. During that time, she kept busy as well with activities of being a youth pastor’s wife, Sunday School coordinator, nursery worker, activities coordinator, children’s church teacher, VBS worker and sometimes cleaning.

Michaela was born during the Criders’ sixth year of marriage. Her profession of salvation came at a young age and she was baptized at the age of six with her foster sister, Taylor, who came to know the Lord during her stay with the Criders. Taylor retuned to her biological family and Troy Whistler came to stay with the Criders that same year. Troy’s profession of salvation came the next year and his second adoption (this time into the Crider family) came in August of 2006. The kids are six days apart in age and very much brother and sister. How we praise the Lord for the gift of these precious ones and for the work to which He has called us!

God directed us to Grace Bible Chapel through two sources. When we began our pre-field ministry, we contacted ABWE for a list of churches with which to speak. Grace Bible Chapel was on the list. Our support team at our home church completed the initial contact via phone. With the okay to proceed, we sent out literature regarding our work. From there, Ken was able to arrange a meeting. In addition, Sharon’s parents, Ted and Debra Welch, missionaries to Ukraine, had told us to contact you. It seems God really had a desire for the Criders to visit Grace Bible Chapel. We are so pleased we did.

Our initial call to missions began at a Missions Conference in 2000. Sharon’s dad was pastoring a church on Osceola where we attended. At the conference, the Boeker family presented their work in Malaga, Spain. The husband was a computer programmer (which Ken does secularly) and the wife was a secretary (which Sharon does secularly as well). It was through their ministry that Sharon became burdened for the work of missions, having been convinced that God can use ordinary people for His great work, if they will submit their lives to Him. The Criders walked forward at the end of that service to commit themselves to a full-time missions work. That call began a five year plan to pay off debt and ready themselves for the task ahead. They researched dozens of mission boards and have seen the inner workings of ABWE through Sharon’s parents. They decided God was calling them to use the same mission board. They applied to ABWE and were accepted with the 2005 summer candidate class. During the seminar, the open mission fields around the world were presented. The Criders were introduced to Dave Hamrick who was leaving a work in South Africa and was looking to fill the gap he had left there. The Criders were intrigued by his story and asked him about the new work to which the Lord had called Dave. The more he talked about the new ministry he was heading up, the more excited the Criders became. They spoke extensively over the next couple of days with Dave, returning to the hotel room each night to prayerfully consider God’s will for them. At the end of their time there, the Criders committed themselves to the work in Cameroon, feeling that it was God’s will for them. It was amazing to see how the ministry there fit them hand in glove. God had openings for Ken’s computer programming skills, Sharon’s secretarial skills, their knowledge of the English language and their passion for the Muslim people. As always, God went on before and paved the way.

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD. “Plans for welfare and not for calamity, to give you a future and a hope.”